Rep. Marrisa Flores speaks to the members of the Commonwealth Casino Commission on Thursday. Behind her is House Floor Leader Edwin Propst.
COMMONWEALTH casino commissioners on Thursday were told by a lawmaker to revoke Imperial Pacific International’s exclusive casino license “immediately,” and resign.
House Floor Leader Edwin Propst, Rep. Marissa Flores, Rep. Vicente Camacho, Rep. Denita Yangetmai and Senate Floor Leader Corina L. Magofna attended the commission’s meeting in Gualo Rai.
During the public comment section of the meeting, Flores said:
“The casino license must be revoked effective immediately. Not next month, not next week but today. The NMI government has spent too much money and wasted too much time already on the failed casino-hotel. The casino is a failure. Factually and legally speaking the casino is a liability to our economy. Its very existence caused the CNMI to be blacklisted. Honest people do not want to invest in a business venture that has been federally investigated. Tourists do not appreciate an abandoned building in the middle of their vacation,” she added.
In terms of safety, she asked, “Do we need the crane to fall on one of our residents or tourists before we bring it down? Are we waiting for an earthquake, typhoon or other acts of God to show us that all the glass and marbles would come crumbling down?”
“What is the commission waiting for? Enough is enough. Do your job. Show us some professionalism and revoke the license. If not, then I am demanding on behalf of everyone in the Commonwealth, definitely those in my precinct, to be informed as to why this license should not be revoked,” Flores said.
She said the commission has to explain in clear and simple terms why the casino license has not been revoked “so that we can set the record straight and hold everyone, especially the members of this commission, accountable.”
Flores said it has also come to her attention that the Beijing Municipal First Intermediate People’s Court ruled on Nov. 24 that Ji Xiaobo, the former Macau junket executive and the project manager of IPI, has been deemed head of a criminal syndicate.
She said the commission should update everyone about the status of the case. She also wants to know what the commission is going to do about it “because apparently you did not regulate them well enough, you failed to conduct your due diligence.”
She added, “On behalf of the people of the Commonwealth … please resign. This whole mess happened [on] your watch. You need to be held accountable and you need to be relieved of [your] duties so someone can do the job that you have failed to do. Have some respect for the people, and resign quickly and quietly and show that you have the competence to do this one act correctly. Do you have the integrity to resign? I hope so. Otherwise, please do your job.”
Held hostage
Rep. Vincent Camacho, for his part, asked the commissioners, “Does the commission believe we are going to recover money that IPI owes us? How soon are you going to revoke the license?”
“Here’s what I think,” he added. “IPI has held us hostage for a long time. We need to revoke the license. People are talking. Too much excuses, so many delays.”
Propst echoed the concerns of Flores and Camacho. He said the unfinished IPI hotel-casino building is an eyesore, a danger, and a liability.
He said the structural integrity of the building poses hazards to the community, and there’s uncertainty on whether the construction can even continue.
Propst said they “really can no go nowhere unless the license is revoked.”
Justice system
The casino commission’s chairman, Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, told the lawmakers that if it is up to the commission, the casino license would have been revoked already.
But he said their hands are tied as the U.S. justice system provides for due process. He added that the commission has been working diligently with the Office of the Attorney General for the last two or more years.
He also informed the lawmakers that on Nov. 6, 2023, IPI appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision reversing the District Court for the NMI’s ruling that mandated a non-binding arbitration.
IPI Director How Yo Chi said if the U.S. Supreme Court accepts the appeal, the commission would have to wait for the high court’s ruling before proceeding with the license revocation process.
Deleon Guerrero said he doesn’t think the U.S. Supreme Court will entertain IPI’s appeal.
